Impressions
by borntoflyhigh
Summary: Change in destiny leads to unknown circumstances, unknown circumstances lead to hasty impressions. Ever wondered what the narcissist and the brunette thought of each other without knowing each other properly. I'm sure their thoughts go deeper than we'd ever thought. Written for Iloveanimex. [Complete!]
1. - Mai Talks -

**'Impressions'**

**Disclaimer****: So who owns GH, definitely NOT me. It belongs to Ono Fuyumi and other respective companies...**

**This one is written for one of my coolest FF buddies: 'Iloveanimex', it was intended to be written and published on her birthday...but well...I had a long list of things that hindered my story-telling. Though Iloveanimex will tell my lost of problems if you ask her :) She gave me a prompt, Mr Know It All by Kelly Clarkson and I literally performed an autopsy of the song to come up with something really good...So R&R**

**Iloveanimex, I hope you find this worth your time and interest! :D**

* * *

_"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." -Dr. Seuss.  
_

* * *

_Fake..._

The first time she ever saw him – Taniyama Mai knew that there was something, something unidentifiable about him that was fake. Maybe it was the polite interest he was showing in her friends, maybe it was the unreachable smile that never touched his eyes or maybe his dark eyes themselves, like pools of secrets, indigo secrets.

_Mysterious..._

"Four."

Too sudden...

The husky whisper had sucked the soul from her body literally, it had echoed around the audiovisual classroom, eliciting an epic reaction from her and her friends. Screaming like banshees; they had latched onto each other in fear and had shut their eyes to the growing darkness of the room, trying hard not to whimper in pure fear...already begging the bodiless spirit to forgive them for intruding in the supernatural realm.

_Fear...instinct..._

And then someone switched the light on and brightness flooded the room.

That was when Mai finally allowed her body to go slack with relief, rubbing her shoulders, thanking God that there was no ghost behind the prank and that they hadn't actually evoked the wrath of any spirit. Mai knew that Michiru would be angry at the interference in their ghost story time; she was easily angered when somebody intruded in such a horrific manner and so would be Keiko but what shocked her were the blushes of her friends and their charming smiles as they greeted the person standing by the door.

_Why are Keiko and Michiru acting so strangely? Who is the person by the door?_

And then Taniyama Mai had turned around, curiously – marking the change in her destiny, from that day on...

There he stood, with a certain pride in his posture – one hand rested on the light switch while the other one was casually in his pocket. He eyed them with curiosity that was instantly replaced by a polite facade and a fake smile...none of her friends noticed the oddity of his appearance, his clothes, _not uniform, _the way he spoke as if aged with maturity and the way he was quietly nonchalant to their antics.

He said he was Kazuya Shibuya.

Mr-I'm-Adonis-And-We-All-Know-It a.k.a Shibuya moved away from the door, answering her friends' queries and even offered to join them the next time they told ghost stories. Of course, Michiru and Keiko were about to _die _with astonishment and delight; a handsome guy was joining them!

_Honestly! _Mai thought, internally shaking her head at her swooning friends. _Show some dignity you two! Besides don't you already have boyfriends?_

Mai asked him a question or two upon which he threw a dismissive glance and an answer in her direction, this guy was handsome but he wasn't some chivalrous knight...he was just flirting with her friends. Not that her friends were any better, by the way.

He had left her suspicious, mystified and with a mouth open in disgraceful, unladylike curiosity – which Michiru remarked, swooning 'was a natural reaction to his handsome personality'. Mai had then corrected her and told her suspicions to her friends but they had laughed and told Mai to finally think like a girl to which Mai had rolled her eyes and started for her house.

That night when she went to her house, she felt something minutely different in the air, some feeling that clung to her like a scent but she was reminded with Keiko's voice saying that after meeting a handsome guy this reaction was legitimate enough.

Instinct...

So she remained awake a little longer that night; replaying the earlier events idly in her mind but little did she know that just two blocks away, Kazuya Shibuya was doing the same...his rational thoughts more haphazard than he usually allowed.

* * *

_Narcissist..._

The myth flashed in her mind with the word as Kazuya Shibuya smirked...smugly, much too pleased when she had accidentally called him handsome and then blamed it on the school girls.

"Well they have very good taste..."

Say what?!

Mai owlishly stared at her boss, shocked to her roots that a person could be so confident of himself, how could he make such a 'narcissistic' remark?! Didn't he have a spark of modestly or humility in himself? Hadn't he been taught any, pray, _any _manners at all? What a -

Sure he was really handsome! Sure, he was successful in his business and too smart for his own good but – but she'd never seen a bigger narcissist than him in her life! Slave-driver, cold-hearted jerk and – and a narcissist!

She determinedly stared at him and mentally prepared a name for him; Kazuya Shibuya was too long and too old for a person his age (never mind that he did sound like an old jerk) so she realized that all Kazuya Shibuya, Your Majesty needed was a nickname and Mai knew one. Pointing an accusatory finger at him, mentally, she bestowed him the title.

_Naru, the narcissist!_

What she didn't know was that the title, this seemingly insignificant nickname would become an endearment for him later...

* * *

_Amazing..._

The thought floated in her head when she saw Naru effortlessly bend the spoon without so much as even gritting his teeth!

Her own shock was delivered by her gasp but she saw Kasai-san stare, astonished at him too and Mai then knew that Naru was amazing, skilled at anything he did and everything he did. He had bent the spoon without even blinking and that caused Mai to stare, mesmerized by his caliber.

Naturally, she was mystified when he asked her to hide this 'little' trick from everyone, especially Lin - Mai had always assumed that Naru, being the narcissist, over-confident jerk he was, would love to flaunt his ability in others' faces but then again...maybe he just didn't want people calling him a freak.

But Mai knew that he was amazing, truly amazing...

She thought that she would die of happiness and shock when he thanked her for keeping this a secret, bursting with delight, she tried to hide her blush hoping that he wouldn't notice her admiration for him, that he wouldn't notice the regard in which she held him; highly.

From that day onwards, Mai was proud of knowing him, proud of being his assistant and proud of him for some unknown reason that made her feel defensive for him, more than anyone. There was no man who could work with the quite dedication her boss showed and she knew that his skill and his genius was what made him so respected by his peers.

All that Mai knew was that Naru had amazed her once more...

* * *

_Caring..._

It was one thing seeing the Naru in her dreams being nice to her – but Naru in reality being kind to her was a wholly different concept and if asked which dimension she liked better; Mai would always choose reality because dreams were illusions, more sweeter but somehow they didn't affect her in that way, nor did they make any etching upon her but the real Naru, he...

"Are you feeling better?"

This Naru was a new aspect, kind for this rare moment and Mai felt a ball of energy strike against her body as she smiled and sat down beside him, unaffected by the fact that they were in a sewer, she locked her eyes on him. He had smiled a bit like Dream Naru but this smile was different somehow, _special _somehow because she knew that this Naru only smiled for certain people and being added in that list made her feel special, made her feel suddenly better.

"Hey, do you want to meet my pet?"

_He has a pet? Down in this sewer?!_

How exactly, had they gotten here? A most usual story – Mai had ran off with her philanthropic instincts on the loose which earned her and Naru a free ride downwards into the sewer and so now they were trapped. At first Naru had been most uncomforting, subtly insulting her and then telling her that the hexer had finally chosen her to kill too.

She had shuddered. Most horrific and uncomforting.

_And here Michiru and Keiko thought that he was some kind of Knight in shiny armour. Pft._

Suddenly, a coin appeared between his fingers and Mai felt like laughing in incredulity, was this Naru's so-called 'pet'? Hilarious!

"Is that your pet?" Mai asked, leaning to examine the coin. "Its just a piddly little 500 yen!"

Almost as suddenly as before, the coin disappeared and Naru smirked smugly.

"You see," He looked at her. "It hid because you made fun of it."

No way!

"No!" She elongated the word and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You've just got it in your hand!"

"Really?" Naru held up his palms and showed her that there was no coin in his hands. Instead, he reached for beneath his elbow and extracted the coin from there. "Ah, there you are..."

Woah!

"How did you do that!?" Mai was amazed, her fear thrown in some niche in the back of her mind. "Naru let me see it!"

"Catch..."

She spread her palms open, struggling to catch the coin that Naru had tossed in the air but neither could she catch it nor did she see it floating in the air. Naru...how...could...he...

"Hey!" She puffed out her cheeks, indignantly and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You didn't even throw it!"

"I guess your yelling scared him so much, he had to hide."

Her yelling? What the -

"Naru I did not yell!"

Rarely was Naru so gentle or so carefree with people and Mai felt as though she had seen him from another perspective, as if someone had taken a portrait of the big-headed jerk and rotated it so that she could see him in a different light. Who knew that Naru could be friendly to anybody at all, her mind consisted of half formed, distracted thought but a vague notion swam around and around, questioning her...

_It seems like I don't know Naru at all, I don't know who he really is..._

All Mai knew that Naru was a skilled magician...and he had pulled her all the way in. Literally.

* * *

_Self-centered jerk!_

How dare he use an insured camera of all things as an excuse to get free labour out of her!

"Did you just hire me so that you could get some free labour. Promise you'll tell the truth."

She hadn't thought him to be that a villain before that but now, Mai had herself convinced – this man was no good, he slowly walked towards her, casually and then placed a hand on her shoulder maintaining eye contact with her.

"You're getting smarter and smarter everyday..."

WHAT!?

HOW COULD THAT SELF-CENTERED NARCISSIST EMPLOY HER OUT OF NOTHING BUT TO BE JUST SLAVE-DRIVEN!

"HEY COME BACK HERE NARU! ANSWER ME JERKFACE!"

Monk held her arms, restraining her from scratching Naru's face out with her fingernails but she could just scream at him until he disappeared down the hallway, away from her questioning yells.

It was official...

She hated him. And she hated the fact that she could not hate him for much too long.

* * *

_Fearless..._

He had said it was nothing when she thanked him but Mai knew bravery when she saw it and what Naru had done last night was fearless, if a bit reckless too.

Taking a ceiling on his back, he had made sure that she wouldn't get hurt even if he himself got injured in the process. She admired him for that and if possible her blush grew in size and color as she stood before Naru - fumbling with her words.

"Uh..yeah..what I'm trying to say is that..."

"Mai, speak clearly."

"Hmm...yes so I came here to – uh – you know...just..."

"Thank me?" He looked up at her from the various papers he held, an eyebrow raised in question.

_Geez...does he read minds or what?_

"Yeah, thanks for saving me last night. I might've been dead if not for you, I guess."

"I know." He returned his gaze to the file papers. "If I say so myself, I have grown accustomed of taking you out of constant trouble."

_Why, the nerve!_

_"_Yeah thanks for saving me," She scoffed, her mood spoilt already. "Since I'm a burden on you and all."

Mai turned to leave, the tea already set on his desk and wondering how she could've come to work for such an icy person (or how she could've fallen for him too). However, his next words stopped her.

"And oh Mai," His strong voice forced her to turn on her shoulder to face him. "It's amusing to see your stupid expression when you're in danger."

WHAT THE HELL DID HE MEAN! THAT INSUFFERABLE KING JERK OF GRUMPIES!

_Maybe that would explain why he was always the first one to rescue her out of danger..._

_That Know-It-All..._

* * *

_Murderer..._

There was an unspoken tension in the air as she said the word that had echoed in her head.

Naru wasn't a murderer, she knew it! Her tears slid down continuously as she looked at her hands, wishing for something to stop Naru form reversing the zuzhou curse. He was killing innocent people here, he was entitling himself to a murderer – didn't he see that?!

"Take her away. No one disturbs Lin..."

There was a look flashing in his eyes, she identified it as hatred and revulsion but she wanted to stop him from hating her; she didn't want Naru to hate her! Never...but he was doing the wrong thing! He _was _a murderer!

She then let herself be dragged away by Takigawa, off to the ground where the students were having an assembly.

Mai's tears had reddened her eyes but she could care less – of all things Naru had ever done, this was the worst of all, these students didn't know what they were doing was wrong, they were not accustomed to this world of supernaturals, they didn't know and he couldn't blame them for not knowing...no school teaches such things but then why was Naru making such an antagonizing move?

But the Naru she knew...

Her thoughts immediately flew to the students who didn't even know of their deaths which was about to come in a minute or two...a sniffle escaped her and she looked up to see the sad faces of the rest of the team.

The students were going to die and she could do nothing about it...

A minute or two passed and Mai held her breath, her eyes closed; not wanting to see the innocent people reaching a painful death just because of one playful mistake.

Then five minutes passed...

And fifteen minutes...

Half an hour...

"Hey Mai!" Monk was dragging her to the assmebly room and she braced herself for the worst but to her surprise, all she could see were..._hitogatas...wooden hitogatas._

_Naru had saved them..._

Mai realized at that moment that she could never really decipher Naru but he wasn't a murderer...

The Naru she knew wasn't a murderer, the Naru she knew had restored her trust again.

* * *

_Headstrong..._

A strange static surrounded the air around them, charged – full of pulsating energy.

"N-Naru..."

Her whisper barely affected him, he glowed still brighter, his hands in a peculiar positions as a ball of what seemed like energy accumulated into the palm of his hand. What was he doing?

"Naru! No!"

Lin's shout seemed to fall deaf upon his ears – he wasn't listening to anyone, he was being rash, irrational and though Mai didn't know the harm in the situation, she could sense that something was deadly wrong.

What the -

The air around her cracked and when she tried to get closer to Naru, he seemed to repel her, like their was a barrier between them that kept her out.

He didn't even look back at her and instead the next thing Mai witnessed, effectively shut off her systems.

Naru made another strange motion with this hands and then he aimed...

It hit...

And it was destroyed...the air felt cleaner and the surroundings lighter, they had finally solved the case...they had put everything together.

_All because of Naru..._

Mai was heping the others move from inside the cave and couldn't help but feel that Naru was dawdling quite unusually so she turned around, intending to use the dialogue 'quit dawdling' upon him but her voice shrivelled in her throat.

Naru looked dazed, as if vague of everything around him.

And then he went unconscious.

"NARU!"

Suddenly, shouts filled the air and everyone was racing towards Naru. Mai felt as if someone had electrocuted her soul, she was numb, processing only certain sounds like Lin's attempts to revive Naru or her own heartbeat filling every corner of her brain.

_What if he did that because...I said..._

"Someone call the ambulance, he's got a pulse but its very weak!"

"Naru wake up, dammit you brat!"

The paramedics soon arrived and drove Naru to the nearest hospital but they could't assure Mai for the bruneete just clutched her chest, tears flowing down her cheek as guilt broke out in heavy sobs.

_If Naru died, it would be because of her!_

_No Naru couldn't die! He – He had to live because Mai had to apologize to him...and she couldn't let him die without that could she?!_

_Could she?!_

No doubt he was head-strong...no doubt that she had ignited a flame far from taming inside his heart.

* * *

_Insecure..._

"Me or Gene?"

The question had startled her...what was that supposed to even mean!?

She _had_ confessed to Naru, hadn't she!? She _liked_ Naru...then why was the narcissist not making any reaction, any reaction except this...except tossing her feelings back at her, questioning her like the Know-It-All he was?! This didn't make any sense, nothing made sense except the fact that he was so cold to everything right now...as if trying to shut her out, as if trying to make her accept that she loved his twin (that's necrophilia!) and not him.

His expression was cold, distant...his mouth quirked into an understanding yet sad smile.

"Girls would confess to me often, mistaking me for Gene."

"That would have been tiresome."

Was Naru insecure?

It didn't seem likely but it was true, he felt overshadowed by his somehow better twin and he had somehow accepted himself as a replica, as a substitution. Her heart thumped loudly and then ached, his previous words crashing against her as if she tried to make some sense some deduction out of all his attitude.

He was looking at her closely as if waiting for some answer but Mai couldn't figure out what to say, how to say and she knew that Naru's emotions were raw at the moment and she had to abstain from doing something that might hurt him

She found none, except the fact that he was 'insecure'.

Her heart went out to him; it must be really tiresome to be mistaken as another person, wouldn't it be really exhausting to be always compared to someone who's always been thought better, wouldn't it be a heartache to love the person and not hate him, not blame him for the substitution. The tears made their way down her cheek and she restrained the urge to embrace him, to let him know that she understood, perfectly.

Her own dilemma was that she loved Naru, not Gene.

But Naru didn't love her back...

"You're going back to England?"

_Say no! Please say no! Please, I'm sorry Naru – just say no!_

"Yes."

_No..._

"We'll miss you..."

All her world felt like crumbling at her feet, she had been wishing for this moment, she didn't expect Naru to reciprocate but she didn't expect him to backfire her statement in that way. Her heart settled in her gut and for a moment she rested her head against the trunk of the tree, closing her eyes, wishing that Naru wouldn't turn and see her.

"It's unnecessary Mai," He stopped in his tracks, his hands stuffed into his pockets. "Thank you for all your hard work."

Not now. She wouldn't cry now...not now.

He kept on walking towards the cabin, never once looking back, leaving an imprint on her heart.

A deep impression...

_Would she ever see him again?_

More importantly – could she ever fall in love again?

And the answer came to her as she watched his retreating form, a slow breeze rustling the air, autumn leaves cracking under his feet with a crunching sound.

She didn't need him to say it...

If you love someone dearly, you can fall in love with their shadows, their memories, their distant voices...

_If you love somebody dearly, you can even fall in love alone..._

* * *

_"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." - Rumi._

* * *

**_A/N: Ah, there's a part two too! I have to give Mai and Naru a happy ending so do look out for it too, 'k? There's a reason for such OOCness that you will find in part two, a very valid one at that ;)_**

**_I hope you all enjoyed reading, leave a comment!_**

**_-borntoflyhigh-_**


	2. - Naru Speaks -

**'Impressions'**

**Disclaimer****: ****_All rights to the respective owners, no copyright infringement intended. Hey, I'm not making money outta' this, am I? Nor do I own the song 'Set Fire To The Rain' it belongs to Adele Adkins._**

_**So here you all have the Part II, I just hope you love this one since I decided to reverse the situation a bit and have Naru's thoughts inserted at moments which I made up. R&R.**_

_**Another big high-five to Iloveanimex who provided a stimuli for this part :) :D Some credit goes to the chorus of Lorde's song 'Buzzcut Season' that for some odd reason inspired me. I swear the song is nowhere near the romantic relationship of Naru and Mai but it set me off...slightly longer than wanted but... *shrugs**_

* * *

"_She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city"_ - **Roman Payne, 'The Wanderess'**

* * *

_Inept..._

It had been a month since she first began to work for SPR.

Kazuya Shibuya found it hard to concentrate on the book in his hands; not when a certain brunette outside his office was making such a commotion that made it impossible to work – so here he was, improvising with help of the book, to keep his workaholic impression in check.

_That girl, honestly..._

He found out that most of his spare time was spent in thinking why _exactly_ he had hired her, what had compelled him to call at her school and demand for her to come down at the office. After making the call, Kazuya had simply reasoned that he had employed her out of empathy; a favor of an orphan on another orphan – and he had believed in the theory, staunchly. It didn't help that Lin was quite suspicious of his hypothesis for employing an 'incapable' girl, who 'knew _nothing _of the supernatural' and 'couldn't remain steady on her feet even if her own life depended on it.'

The theory on poltergeists was vaguely thrown into some other pat of his brain as he heard Mai going into the kitchenette to make his tea; the door to the small kitchen was thrown open with a loud bang, the kettle was almost _slammed _onto the stove and to top it off, she had started singing along to some song on the radio.

It didn't help that his office was the nearest to the kitchenette; it was not that her singing was disturbing, it was just too _loud _and too distracting for work hours.

He shook his head and put the book down, trying hard not to get diverted towards the hurricane in the kitchen. Never in his whole life had Kazuya ever thought that he would hire a person like her, completely gullible to the world but then again, he mused, maybe that was why he had hired her in the first place. She was so naïve that she bought every theory he ever presented and even defended him from the phony accusations of the Monk and the Miko, she was so innocent that she hadn't even thought of the _'prospects' _that normal girls thought would have thought of with such a young and handsome boss (what? He was being truthful after all) and she was so trusting that she wouldn't even blow up his cover.

There. Perfectly sorted out.

On the cue, a short knock was heard on his door and his bodyguard Lin Koujo stepped inside his office, gripping a folder in one hand and looking at Naru with a livid expression. Naru simply returned his gaze to the book and barely paid attention when the Chinese threw the folder on his desk, meaning to catch his attention.

"Lin." He acknowledged silently, his eyes glued to the meaningless words of the book.

"Naru." Lin sounded cold, as if trying to hide his fury but Naru heard the anger lacing his biting words. "Do me a favor and tell _her _stop singing."

Naru tried to contain his amusement at Lin's agitated expression. Maybe that was why he had hired Mai – because she was capable of irritating the wits out of Lin which benefited Naru in various ways; a distracted Lin meant a loosened leash on Naru which meant that he could ignore meals, stay up at night till whatever time he wished and work as much as possible without interference whatsoever.

"Hmm..."

That one word seemed to break the older man's patience.

"Don't you dare feign innocence, Noll." Lin's icy words barely affected Naru, the teen continued reading as if what the Chinese was saying had been unimportant. "We both know that she is nothing but a burden upon both of us."

Naru ignored this statement again.

"Naru, she is nothing but a burden on the mission we came to accomplish here. Do not forget that!" He paused gruffly. "If I didn't know you better, I would've thought that you _enjoyed_ her presence."

"Lin."

"I'm going out."

Naru didn't care about Lin's receding footsteps echoing around the room, he tried to focus on the book with Lin's words rebounding against his mind and colliding with his half-formed thoughts.

_'She's nothing but a burden upon our mission.'_

_'You enjoy her presence, Naru.'_

He was once more broken from his musings when the object of his latest thoughts entered the room, without knocking. He didn't look up at her when she bustled inside and chirruped her arrival by placing the tea-cup on his desk but simply reprimanded her without taking his eyes off the book.

"Mai," He knew she was fuming by now, frustrated by his lack of response. "How many times do I have to tell you to _knock _before entering?"

His statement was not met with apologies, he noted absently, she fired retorts in her own way.

"Oh thank-you Mai!" She was imitating him now - albeit poorly, her voice coming out in high pitched squeaks. "The tea was wonderful as usual!"

Kazuya Shibuya smirked – he was pulling her strings just to see how far she could endure him and his ways. He wanted to see how far Mai could continue working for him with sanity, though he knew that short-tempered as she was, she had a lot of patience for difficult people like him.

"Go and be useful, there's some data about the latest case that I want you to fill in."

"Sure boss." She was about to make her way out, her anger long forgotten but she stopped in the middle quite suddenly...staring at him. "Uh...Naru, what are you reading?"

Her tentative voice made him wonder why she wanted to know, it was not that she was going to understand the context anyway.

"The Phenomenons of Paranormal Research." He answered without second thought, almost absently. "Second edition by Dr. Oliver Davis."

She looked embarrassed now, a foolish giggle threatening to burst out of her which made him curious about her unusual behavior, Naru was not used to being laughed at.

"Uh, yeah, well...um..." Her loud chuckle interrupted the silence of the room as she twisted a strand of hair with her fingers, smiling a bit too brightly, entangling her fingers. "I thought you might want to know...that you're...holding the book upside down...ehehe.."

Bloody Hell.

He did not look up from the book or appear to be unnerved – no matter how much embarrassed he actually was, he didn't show it at all.

_Improvise..._

"I was merely studying the lateral inversion of a diagram in the book." He finally looked up at her and smirked, challenging her with a raise of his eyebrow. "But you're too stupid to understand that kind of knowledge, I suppose."

Mai gritted her teeth, fuming now and mumbling rapidly under her breath as she stormed out of his office, leaving his thoughts to wander once more.

Maybe it wasn't that bad to have her around. Maybe he could use her temperament to his own advantage.

_The dummy..._

* * *

_Hospitable..._

Taniyama Mai had once more converted his office into a cafe, much to his obvious displeasure.

"Mai," She stood in front of him, tea tray hugged to her chest and her head bowed by the weight of his scolding. "How many times have I told you _not _to invite all of them. They're making such a din and to think that they're not even letting you work."

She raised her head, indignation clearly showing in her brown eyes as she defended the Irregulars who, oblivious to all this, raised their chatters making his head throb.

"But N-Naru they're our friends! I just can't tell them to leave now, can I?!"

He merely frowned at her hospitality towards her co-workers; he paid Mai to work and he didn't pay them to come around the office and lounge whenever they wanted. It was against all work ethics and Lin would surely disapprove and get rid of them at the nearest opportunity.

"Lin does not like the noise you all create. He won't be pleased if you interrupt his work."

Lin was merely an excuse because Naru knew that Mai feared Lin more than she feared him, so he supposed that the reference might push her to bid farewell to all the useless people outside – but what she said next nearly made him splutter disgracefully in his tea-cup.

"Oh but," Mai smiled brightly at him. "Lin-san is outside and he's exchanging a few recipes with John. I never would have imagined that Lin-san was fond of cooking! Can you believe it?!"

Lin was what - ?

"So Naru," She smirked, one hand on her hip. "Now that Lin-san doesn't mind, does that mean we can continue, right?"

"Go back to work Mai, frivolity isn't what helps in ghost hunting."

"But sometimes relaxing is a bit good for health!"

_Relaxing? Health? An unhealthy combination for a workaholic like him, relaxing made the brain tardy and health was an inconsistent issue he could not bother with._

"Go away Mai," He sighed, pinching his nose-bridge while he tried to make sense of the situation and realizing that letting Mai have her way was the only way out. "Let me work."

It seemed as if she understood that he had given the permission to do whatever she deemed fit and with this she smiled her megawatt smile at him, leaving a fresh cup of tea and baked butter biscuits on his desk.

"Oh and I made you some biscuits and they're not sweet, so I think you'll like them."

Naru shook his head at the brunette's retreating form, his gaze landing suddenly on the cookies and then the closed door to his office which indicated that no one would disturb him now.

He could eat them, he supposed, after all he wouldn't want Mai to force them down his oesophagus, no matter how unlikely the suggestion sounded, he did not want any unpleasant situation in the office.

All he knew that the girl in question was far too genial for her own good.

* * *

_Compassionate..._

"Good Morning Naru!" The bell chimes jingled as Taniyama Mai entered the office, loudly shutting the door as if to announce her presence. "Good Morning Lin-san!"

_Cheerful..._

It had been her custom each morning, Naru's brain processed the sounds and he glanced at the clock out of habit, calculating the time by which she was late. Each morning she entered the office building with the chimes tinkling above her head and her greeting echoing inside, rebounding back at her and succeeded by utter silence. He never wished her back and expecting Lin to do so would be a stupidity but he had noticed that the two were far more friendly after the case of Urado – although what had happened between the two, he did not know.

"Good Morning Mai-san."

Naru almost dented the wall of Lin's office by glaring at it in disbelief.

Lin Koujo? The patriotic Chinese had finally put the grudges behind him and was now wishing Mai from the confines of his office.

Naru just hoped that Lin would pick up the Chinese history text-book that he had planted in the older man's drawer and recall his grudges towards the Japanese; because as much as he hated to admit, seeing Mai and Lin become friendly didn't help his temper to remain calm.

And of course, it was against work ethics...of course.

He had often observed that Mai didn't just enter a room – she filled it with her presence; it was some sort of shine she possessed, maybe it was her bright smile and her infectious laughter, maybe it was the way she thought of things in an optimistic way, maybe it was her perception to emotions.

Maybe it was her compassion that radiated from within her heart.

Maybe it was because she reminded him of bright colors, colors that he'd bid farewell to once Gene had died; she was returning them back – her compassion was contagious to him. In each case, he'd look for the way which would least hurt the people or the souls involved, for Mai's sake and just to let her know that he did care – despite his cold demeanor.

So when she entered his office with the bright smile on her face and a steaming cup of tea in hand; he looked up to acknowledge her, something he'd been doing the past days a lot.

He stiffened at the change she'd been bringing to him, this was not planned, this was not defined, not what he aimed for in Japan.

"Here's your tea Naru!" Her voice reminded him of the bell chimes that she had installed on the door at her third day of joining SPR. "Umm...I wanted to ask you for a half-day today."

Naru spied past her and cast a glance towards the pile of paperwork on her desk.

"You can go once you're done with all the files." He knew that the files would take her whole day but she was being lazy with her work and looking for recreation in the middle of it. How could she possibly expect him to give her a day off with that much work on her desk. Ridiculous.

"But N-Naru!" She spluttered indignantly, her cheeks turning red. "I absolutely _need _a day off! Try to understand!"

"Well," He put down the fountain pen he'd been scribbling with prior to her entrance. "If you'll make me understand why you're so desperate to go, maybe I'll reconsider."

He knew it would be a stupid reason, so he challenged her and observed how she played with her fingers as she contemplated on how to make him understand, or what excuse to give.

"Naru, please -" She toyed with the hem of her skirt. "I need to...l-leave because, uh..."

"Speak up Mai. I don't have all day."

Mai stopped fumbling with her words and looked up at him, worry evident in her eyes and her cheeks pink with the glares she was receiving from him.

"You remember Ayami-chan?"

Naru leaned back in his seat and frowned, trying to remember who the girl was when it occurred to him that she was the little girl from one of their cases, the one involving the dolls. So he nodded at Mai to continue with her explanation.

"Uh, yeah – I received a call from her today – and, she told me that she's having problems at her new school."

It had been eight months since they had taken that case and by that time, Ayami would surely have joined a school, but what troubles could she possibly be having?

"Naru," She looked up at him, desperation evident in her eyes. "She's being bullied by some guys and she just called me for help – she made me promise that I wouldn't tell anyone. I was planning to visit her today."

He felt himself mentally shaking his head at her heightened sense of compassion for others, something that radiated from her like vibes. When would she actually understand that her own safety was more important than the issues of others, this was what they both clashed on about so often.

"I kind of know the feeling." She sheepishly hugged the tea-tray to her chest. "I was...bullied too, in Middle School so I wanted to help her, you know...just..."

He raised an eyebrow internally at the decision he was brewing inside.

"When do you plan to go?" He nonchalantly asked, trying to look busy by rummaging in the files and avoiding her eyes, though he knew she was smiling at him.

"At about twelve, they have recess by then at the school!" She was positively beaming at him now and he knew that her happiness ultimately meant good tea for the rest of the day. "Thank you so much Naru! I'm so relieved that you understood. Thank you so much!"

She skipped out of the door, her happiness lightning the dark in the room by a bit and he stopped her with words that accidentally slipped out of his mouth.

"Be...careful."

She simply grinned at him, her hand on the door knob when she turned to face him – a slow smile dimpling her cheeks.

"As if you won't follow me down."

Taniyama Mai then left the office, almost running, mortified at even blurting such unprofessional words to her boss, leaving Kazuya Shibuya to ponder upon the honesty of such words.

Of course he'd follow her to the school – he couldn't risk being tea-deprived if she even touched trouble.

But her compassion lingered in the air long after she had left.

* * *

_Reckless..._

Damn it!

"Mai-san," Lin panted lightly, both hands on his knees as he tried to catch some breath. "She ran after the shape-shifter spirit mistaking it for Keito-san, she'd fallen in a well _again._"

How much could he protect that girl and when would she learn that her perceptiveness to human emotions was actually harmful for her own being?! When would she realize that her psychic abilities were the reason behind her always falling into trouble and when would she learn not to run amok at every humanitarian opportunity?!

He had clearly told her that this case included a spirit with the ability to shift its shape and switch personalities and would try to lure her towards danger, but had she listened to anything he said? Of course not! Taniyama Mai had once again fallen for her instincts and foolishly mistaken the spirit to be their client Keito-san in trouble.

Goddamn it!

"Noll, calm down," Lin sat down on the couch, running a hand through his bangs. "Takigawa found her in time, Matsuzaki is tending to her, in the room down the corridor."

He was irritated at everyone telling him to calm down, he was just agitated but that did not mean that he was furiously livid or something.

Or maybe the boiling sensation in his gut was the livid anger he felt at her recklessness.

He scowled and walked out of the base towards the room where Mai was currently being tended to by her 'family' at SPR. Naru stuffed his hands in his pocket, trying to come up with a long lecture to deliver to Mai once he reached her room but surprisingly, for a genius like him, his mind was completely blank and he could only calm down the anger that sang in his veins.

He opened the door and stepped inside the brightly lit room.

She sat on a stool with her wet bangs sticking to her cheek, Matsuzaki was applying alcohol to a gash on her knee and band-aids to other bleeding cuts while Takigawa was constantly complaining of how his arms ached by carrying her around. Though when he entered the room, all voices and noises ceased to exist except Mai's astonished croak.

"Naru?"

Of course it was him. She should not mistake him for a shape-shifter even after an encounter with one. He strode towards her, the scowl etching upon his face – Mai realized that he was angry and bowed her head down slightly as if refusing to meet his gaze.

Like the obedient slaves they were, the other members of SPR quietly slipped out of the room one by one, intending to leave Mai alone to Naru's scolding, once he glared at all of them – the message clear in his eyes.

"Do you realize what the consequences of your recklessness might have been?" His statement was no question, it was simply an accusation and one at which she clearly winced. "Do you realize what would have happened if Lin or Takigawa didn't find you in time? Answer me, Mai!"

Kazuya realized that he had never once shouted at Mai and now when he was doing so, she was flinching at every sentence he threw at her. Naru was determined to teach her a lesson for refusing to obey his command and his instructions.

"Did you even stop to think how your death would have affected all of those outside this room." His tone was climbing the staircase to iciness. "They would have never forgiven each other for leaving you to the spirit's killing. They would have lived with guilt Mai, they hold you as a vital friend and you disregard all that, every single time."

She was crying by this time, her sobs racking her petite form, the wet bangs hiding her red-rimmed eyes.

"Naru – I – please..." But he interrupted her in the middle of the so-called explanation.

"So the next time you decide to forget all this and let your compassion on loose," He paused, the words coming of more colder than he intended to. "Do know that you'll leave behind grieving people just because of one foolish mistake that you made."

He ended and then turned around to leave; his breathing irregular because of shouting at Mai in the first place and anger's leash loosening on his body – his sigh was loud and his fists automatically unclenched. He had mixed his mourning for Gene inside this and he shouldn't have said the last sentences but he knew they were true – more importantly, she knew they were true.

"I'm sorry..." Her hoarse voice poked at his conscience and he looked over his shoulder to see that she had skipped off the stool and was now standing before him. In the spur of a moment, she threw her arms around him, burying her face in the folds of his black shirt, her wet tears forming invisible stains.

"I'm so sorry – but N-Naru, I just saw Keito-san and she was screaming so badly with that...that knife in her hand that...that I..."

A new train of sobs was released into his shirt and he held her for that one moment, his anger releasing slowly when he realized that her problem was her compassion for others and it wasn't her fault that she mistook the shape-shifter for the client. Unlike his usual self, Kazuya Shibuya exhaled and simply observed the crying girl in his arms, wondering why in the name of Hell was he pardoning her mistake after _one_ apology.

Then he realized that this was Mai and Mai's recklessness had somehow broken another inch of the walls he had put around him; getting him to actually exhibit an emotion even if it was anger.

That, Kazuya concluded, was not a good sign.

_It was the sign of falling...hard in love._

* * *

_Temperamental..._

Oliver Davis closed his eyes for a moment when the morning breeze wafted past him, muddling his logical thoughts with one attempt. He had stopped experiencing the emotions that clung to human – but now – as he glanced at the airport with the commotion of Tokyo International buzzing vaguely in his ears, Oliver Davis felt something akin to anger and dismay emerge inside him.

He had foolishly hoped that Mai would be there to see him off and bid him farewell with the rest of the team, but with one look at the rag-tag group assembled, waiting for him, he knew that he was wrong.

Mai wasn't there...

And why would she be there when he had put out his doubts in front of her, when she had learnt his secrets, when he had presented the darker side of his persona to her? No one stayed after they learnt that he was the scowling, grim twin not Gene – nobody had ever stayed to cure his doubts, to cure the insecurity he felt with Gene's shine empowering over all that knew them.

Why would Mai stay?

The thoughts were acrid to him and he resisted clenching his fists with the jealousy he was feeling – it was this resilience and this irrationality he hated about love. People made impossible targets, soared above themselves only to fall back to the ground; he had been soaring too close to the sun like Icarus, hoping somewhere in his mind that Mai would choose him, not his twin even after knowing all – wishing that she would realize his issues, not pity him because he didn't need pity.

And now he didn't need anything at all. It was back to England, back to normalcy at home...

And somehow, England didn't feel home.

The team presented him and Lin with different assortments of gifts; ranging from music CDs to expensive watches, books, mirrors, tea-bags, pens and photo albums of their time together – the tension was obvious in the air with Mai's absence and he saw the emptiness in their manners. He had thanked them almost begrudgingly and then turned to walk towards the terminal when his flight was announced, not even looking back to have a last glimpse of Japan.

And then it felt as if he was walking in a dream, an illusion.

Mai Taniyama had almost ran towards him, appearing out of nowhere, a bag slung across her shoulder, clutching at a stitch in her chest with her hair sticking to her forehead, most likely because of running.

"You're late," He savored the words, knowing that it might be the last time he'd say them. "Even today."

She had been panting heavily, with one hand on his shoulder for support and when he fired the retort, she simply looked up – a sad, depressed look in her eyes.

"You were going..."

"Of course. You didn't expect me to wait for you while my flight left?"

The sad look in her eyes blazed into indignation and then into pure fury at his insensitive answer. Her moods kept on changing in this unpredictable way.

"Why you -!" Her hands pounded upon his chest in a fake attempt to punch him. "You're going and you're still a jerk! It isn't my fault that the bus got punctured before it could reach the airport and then I came running all the way down to here when I noticed that an old lady spilled tomatoes out of her shopping bag, so I stopped to help her and then I realized that it was time for the flight-"

She realized that she was rambling now and then smiled at him, the brightness spreading slowly across her face.

"Anyway," She beamed at him. "Have a safe flight, take care of yourself and make sure that you get enough sleep and Lin-san," Mai turned to the Chinese man and bowed politely at him. "Please take care of yourself and Naru."

"Of course Taniyama-san," Lin smiled mysteriously. "I'll take care of him, rest assured."

She turned to Naru again, her eyes turning mysteriously bright before she tightly hugged him and then proceeded to press something against his palm.

A key...

Her key; the lucky charm she held so close to her heart.

Then, she waved at a slightly baffled Naru who almost forced himself to recover from the childishness of Mai's actions – she had hugged _him _in the _middle _of Tokyo International Airport attracting more than a few stares of the people passing by, some of which who _kindly _murmured words like 'teenagers' or 'young love'.

To his surprise, he didn't care in the least.

All he cared about as he walked towards the terminal - resisting the temptation to look back at Mai - was that she cared for him, even if she didn't love him, she didn't hate him either. She had almost accepted him as he was, the grim, stiff twin he was and then he realized that this was the only thing on his mind as he absently walked towards the flight to England.

Though he did catch what Lin muttered behind him.

"Teenagers."

* * *

_Childish..._

Oliver Davis felt himself sigh at his assistant's antics; though he didn't know whether to be angry or be relieved that she was the same as she had been before he had left, like she had been before knowing him and his secrets.

Her hair was plastered to her face, shining with the crystal droplets of water that rained from above the dark, gray sky. Her face shone with happiness and glee as she sang at the top of her voice to some English song – not knowing its meaning likely, he assumed.

"_**But I set fire to the rain!**_

_**Watched it pour as I touched your face,**_

_**Let it burn while I cry cause I heard it screaming out your name**_

_**Your name..."**_

He almost smirked at the meaning of the song but decided not to ruin Mai's fun by explaining to her what the song meant and how true to reality it was when it came to him – she was fire, unyielding, passionate and fiery with the ability to warm almost everybody around her.

Even people like him.

Behind him, Naru sensed Yasuhara standing and observing the scene with a fond smile across his face and a twinkle in his eyes. His brow twitched in irritation as he realized that Yasuhara was witnessing the refreshing moment that Mai was having, without her permission – so he decided to eliminate Yasu from the way with a painless method, at least for him.

_Clueless girl..._

"Yasu," He called out, eyes fixed on Mai dancing around lightly in the veranda. "I want you to do some research on a client, background, present situation, marital status and everything that's in this file."

Yasuhara sensed his jealousy on the spot and smirked.

"Oh yes, sure..." He smiled customarily. "I'll leave you to enjoy the _view,_ alone."

_That's right Yasuhara, get out of my way or you'll regret even knowing me._

"By the way Boss man," He sent another smirk towards a glaring Naru. "You should know that I'm dating Masako-chan – your path is pretty much clear."

"I know Yasu," His gaze came to rest against at the brunette outside on the terrace but he didn't blame her childlike aura because it made her the affectionate person she was, the person he had come to like. "I know..."

* * *

_Beautiful..._

He still remembered the night when he had unknowingly confessed to the petite brunette – and much to his amusement, it had been a most unromantic place.

She had been sucked into a very horrible dream about the murder of innocent girls – this time she had been in the place of a brown-haired girl who had been brutally murdered by a doctor of a mental asylum, this time Mai had gone through all the feelings of death before surfacing for life and sanity.

It had been her shift with him in the base that had firstly been an operation theater, in the middle of it she had fallen asleep and then thrashed around until the screaming began. The base had been quite a distance away from the base and so no one woke up when she had shouted in her nightmare, her eyes overflowing with tears, her eyes wide and tremors shaking her body.

Naru had been given the shock of his life when he heard her scream his name into the quiet night but he had recovered and held her down while she struggled against him. Almost after a minute she had opened her eyes, wide and terrified as she crouched away from him, shrieking insanely.

"Don't – d-don't come near me," She had pushed him away, her whimpers echoing around his ears. "D-don't come near m-me, I h-hate y-you, DONT!"

"Mai?" His voice had been incredulous as he tried to reach for her, frowning as she squirmed in his grasp. "Mai, the dream is over! Mai!"

"Don't come near me, please...don't..."

He had realized that it had been a traumatic experience and so he distanced himself from her, knowing that she would calm down by the passage of time.

"It's not a dream Mai," His voice was a whisper. "You're alive."

She had shrieked with the tears cascading down her pale cheeks, covering her ears by grinding her palms against them, shutting out his voice.

"No! No! Please, no!"

After a few moments, she had stopped trembling and screaming whenever he tried to come near her, instead her quiet sobs quaked her form, leaving Naru at a loss on how to approach her – his curiosity about the case burnt but he knew that post-cognitive dreams left Mai vulnerable and he didn't want to hurt her.

_He never wanted to hurt her..._

"Mai," He crouched down to her level, both hands resting on her shoulders. "You're alive, your dream is over."

She whimpered, her bangs hiding her eyes.

"Come on idiot, look at me."

Mai raised her head, her eyes moist and her chin trembling as quiet sobs overcame her body. She avoided his eyes and instead looked once more down at her entangled hands, before forcing words out of her mouth.

"You almost killed me," Her hoarse, scratchy voice made him look at her, slightly alarmed. "Naru, you murdered me."

It felt as if arrows had been showered on him.

"Me?"

She nodded, bringing a small hand to wipe out her tears.

"You were so cruel Naru and you s-stabbed me," She had looked him in the eye and put a hand on her heart. "Right here."

He had felt demonized, as if he was a monster...

"Mai," She was the only one who understood him, then how could she dream something like that?! "Mai, it wasn't me – I can never kill you. Do you hear me?"

She nodded imperceptibly, her sobs ringing in his ears as he wildly ran a hand through his hair.

"I can never kill you Mai." He had felt anger and something like fire lighting his veins, setting him ablaze. "Do you hear me?"

She then looked up at him, her brown eyes that usually held sparks were tired, without light.

"Even if you do," She had cried, lightly hiding her face in his shirt. "It won't hurt the way your words do."

And then everything else had been a vague blur in his mind and eyes – he remembered shouting at her, finally letting all the bottled up feeling loose, finally telling her how much he wanted her to love him _not _Gene; not like everybody else, finally telling her of the strangling that came to him when other men flirted with her, finally gritting his teeth and letting the barriers break for a while.

It had been the most wonderful feeling ever, letting himself loose control for that moment.

But the electricity that ran through his veins when she muttered something along the lines of 'idiot-should-have-said-all-this-before' and then hugged him, hands in his hair – that had been the best feeling ever.

And like the selfish man he was, he stood there, savoring the moment, holding it.

Looking down upon her, he noticed that she was smiling albeit tearfully but _still _smiling – because of him and decided that the moment was beautiful in every aspect.

_She was beautiful in every aspect..._

* * *

He finished telling the tale and cocked his head to the side to examine her expression; it was soft, tears had made their way down her red cheeks but she was smiling at him, a hand propped under her chin.

"I kinda like the last line." She smiled brightly, tapping her chin. "But I think that my part of the story was better dramatized than yours, ne?"

Oliver Davis raised an elegant eyebrow at his fiancee and then smirked, leaning against the headboard.

"I don't think so," He haughtily replied, throwing a dismissive glance in her direction. "I'm certainly a better story-teller than you are."

She huffed, fluffing a pillow and then resting her head upon it.

"You're always taking the credit for yourself," Her cheeks were puffed out as she laid down beside him. "I can't believe you're such a narcissist."

"Well it was not me who wanted to hear a 'bed-time story'." He scoffed at the brunette who was glaring harmless daggers at him by now. "You wanted to hear what I thought of you and so I told you. Now stop complaining."

"I'm not complaining," Mai pouted as his smirk widened. "But I still think that your impressions on me were the better part, not my impressions on you. Hmph."

"You are impossible, idiot." He exhaled, closing his eyes and feeling sleep wash over him like waves.

"Same to you, narcissist..."

* * *

"_Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream." _**- Paulo Coelho.**

* * *

_**Review, lovelies...**_

_**-borntoflyhigh-**_


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